peter broderick & machinefabriek - Blank Grey Canvas Sky

Rotterdam's Rutger Zuydervelt has previously worked with Peter Broderick on the Machinefabriek 3"CD Huis, although for this collaboration there's a more even distribution of work. Zuydervelt's heavily processed drone-weaving is countered by luscious acoustic instrumentation, but importantly, none of it feels tacked on, and these two prolific artists make a good job of integrating their respective approaches. It's actually a very natural collaboration: while Machinefabriek often converges on the classical and cinematic, Broderick's instrumental music is rendered with a discerning producer's ear. After an introductory splash of droning atmospherics on 'Departure', the follow-up track, 'Planes' takes on a more classical sound, featuring Broderick's urgent, Philip Glass-like piano riffing and a wordless, hummed vocal that gels into the swirling Zuydervelt soundscape. Possibly the finest piece on the whole set, 'Kites' operates in a similar fashion, with loose, impressionistic key-work and distant strings melting seamlessly into an electroacoustic sonic environment. It's like a hallucinated symphony orchestra drifting across airwaves before slowly disintegrating into bad reception by the piece's oddly poignant end. Marking a slight change in direction, 'Rain' features vocals (a duet between Peter and Susanna Lundgren) and acoustic guitar while contact-miced rainfall forms the basis of a backdrop. An altogether more experimental, radio-based sound collage, 'Blank Grey' is predominantly electronic and relatively severe, using acoustic instruments as a brooding, mysterious background while cut-up speech fragments and broadcast signals populate the mix. Eventually, Broderick arrives with processed piano and layered vocal loops lead the fourteen minute composition to a close. Considerably less perplexing is the lovely closer, 'Homecoming', featuring piano recorded by Nils Frahm and grainy waves of manipulated, fuzzy sound waves. 'Blank Grey Canvas Sky' is a sonically rich album that marries the talents of its two stars without there being any indication that it occupies a compromised middle ground. Gorgeous.